Geophagia

Geophagia is the deliberate consumption of earth or soil by humans or other animals. It occurs in diverse settings and may be associated with culture, nutrition, or illness.

Clay mineral: A fine-grained mineral group whose layered structures give clays distinctive absorption and exchange properties. Some geophagic earths are clay-rich, and their mineral structure can affect what they bind.
Ancient Greek medicine: The medical traditions and practices developed in the Greek-speaking world from antiquity onward. Classical authors recorded medicinal uses of earth, including clays from specific places.
Pica: A feeding disorder involving persistent consumption of nonfood substances inappropriate to a person's developmental level. Geophagia is one specific form of pica, though culturally customary practices are not automatically disorders.
Pica disorder: A clinical diagnosis involving persistent ingestion of nonnutritive, nonfood substances that is inappropriate and not culturally sanctioned. Geophagia may be a symptom, but the behavior alone does not establish this diagnosis.
Cation-exchange capacity: A material's ability to adsorb and exchange positively charged ions. This property helps explain how clay-rich soils interact with nutrients and toxins in the gut.
Terra sigillata: A medicinal clay stamped with a seal and traded in the ancient Mediterranean. It is a prominent historical example of earth deliberately consumed as medicine.
Pregnancy cravings: Strong desires for particular foods or substances that can occur during pregnancy. Geophagia is reported in pregnancy and may warrant assessment of nutritional and toxic exposures.
Food craving: A strong desire to eat a particular food or type of food. Cravings concern foods, whereas geophagia involves deliberate ingestion of earth.
Adsorption: The accumulation of molecules or ions on a material's surface. Adsorption may let ingested earth bind compounds in the digestive tract.
Minoan Earth Goddess: A prehistoric clay figurine from Crete, interpreted by some scholars as a goddess figure. Clay figurines have prompted debate about whether ritual clay consumption accompanied their use.

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